EU ban: Agric engineer canvasses beans farmers' education on pesticides

An Agriculture Engineer, Dr John Olaoye, on Wednesday called for education of beans farmers on moderate application of pesticide and insecticide during cultivation for the preservation of the commodity.

Olaoye made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, against the backdrop of the ban on the Nigeria’s beans to European Union (EU) countries.
According to him, this is the only way to ensure reduction in the residual effects of the chemicals on beans to make it acceptable for export.
``The major problem why international community do not accept Nigerian beans exported to their countries is the use of synthetic materials during cultivation and preservation.
``Each of the materials has their active ingredients which, if high, make our beans not to be accepted internationally.
``The best way to check is to determine the minimum content using the Acceptable Dosage Level (ADL).
``Farmers do not just need to apply the chemicals they need to optimise the ADL.
``That is not what farmers are doing in Nigeria,'' he said.
Olaoye said that farmers needed not to apply chemicals just because they wanted to kill the pests and insects, but to ensure appropriate application of the ADL.
He said that apart from the synthetic materials, there were other non-chemical products most of them biological, that could be used as well as plant extracts and water extracts.
Olaoye said that the biological chemicals had most active ingredients like the synthetic materials.
According to him, some of the ADL materials are not as effective as the synthetic being used over time, they are more effective when used repeatedly.
He said that when farmers reported that they had pest infestation, what they were after was to kill the pests or insects without taking into consideration whether they were safe or not. 

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